Categories: NASCAR Betting

U.S. Cellular 250 Race Picks

NASCAR Nationwide Series Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Saturday, August 2nd 2014. 8:14PM Eastern
Where: Iowa Speedway
TV: ESPN
By:NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service

The 2nd leg of today’s NASCAR double header will take place later tonight when the Nationwide Series goes racing at Iowa Speedway in the U.S. Cellular 250. Earlier today the Camping World Truck Series kicked off the weekend’s racing action at Pocono Raceway. Austin Dillon earned his 6th victory in the Camping World Truck Series by holding off Clint Bowyer over the course of a pair of green-white-checker restarts to win the Pocono Mountains 150. Now, we turn our focus to the Nationwide Series that will take center stage tonight when the green flag drops at 8:14pm (EST) at Iowa Speedway. Take a look as we breakdown tonight’s racing action and provide our U.S. Cellular 250 race picks!

Tonight’s field is compiled of nearly all Nationwide Series regular drivers as they are the lone touring series at Iowa Speedway this weekend. However, Brad Keselowski will make the trip over to Newton, Iowa to participate in tonight’s event. Keselowski will be the only Sprint Cup veteran racing in tonight’s field and he is a heavy favorite to win the U.S. Cellular 250. However, Keselowski is a deserving favorite not just because of his Sprint Cup Series experience but because of his resume at Iowa Speedway. Keselowski won the first at Iowa from any of NASCAR’s top 3 touring series by winning in the Nationwide Series debut in 2009. In 4 starts at Iowa Speedway, Keselowski has recorded two wins and finished no worse than 4th. Keselowski missed the first practice due to his Sprint Cup Series responsibilities before finishing 9th in final practice. However, most expect that he will be the car to beat tonight especially after Ryan Blaney wheeled that same #22 to a 2nd place finish at Iowa back in May.

In that race, Sam Hornish Jr dominated to lead 167 of 250 laps to score his only win of the season in his part time role in the #54 car. Hornish will seek an encore performance tonight as he seeks his 2nd win of the year. Hornish has finished in the top 5 in each of his last 4 starts at Iowa Speedway so that #54 team has high expectations entering tonight’s event. Outside of Keselowski and Hornish, you have to keep an eye on Chase Elliot tonight in the #9 NAPA Chevrolet. Elliot leads all drivers in tonight’s field with 3 wins this season and has a 4 point advantage over Regan Smith in the Nationwide Series Points Standings. Elliot finished 4th back in May in his first visit to Iowa in the Nationwide Series. With a lack of Sprint Cup guys in tonight’s field, Chase has a chance to add another trophy to his incredible rookie campaign.

Outside of those 3 big names, the field thins out pretty quickly if you are looking for worthy candidates to win tonight’s U.S. Cellular 250. Elliot Sadler and Trevor Bayne have both hoisted trophies at Iowa Speedway in Nationwide Series competition. Sadler finished 5th back in May and typically runs strong at Iowa but he has struggled thus far in practices with the handling of his #11 OneMain Financial Toyota. Sadler finished outside the top 10 in the first practice and all the way down in the 16th slot in final practice. Bayne finished 9th back in May and was solid in practices on Friday. Bayne has two runner-up finishes this year including a strong run at Dover. If you looking for a big darkhorse tonight, Bayne could be your guy.